We need collection offices with a human touch

The debt collection sector has a bad and cold reputation. It is often thought that collection offices only make things worse for people who are already in difficulty.

Jennie Flink, OK Perinnän toimitusjohtaja.

“The fewer payment default entries there are, the more we feel we have succeeded in our work.”

Jennie Ollila, OK Perintä

The debt collection sector has a bad and cold reputation. It is often thought that collection offices only make things worse for people who are already in difficulty. Images are hard to shift, but we at OK Perintä want to change them by doing things differently. Financial problems are genuine, life-defining challenges. We want to help people overcome their debts.

Individual issues require individual solutions

A key task of collection offices is to prevent people from disintegrating in the face of debt and to help them overcome their debts. There may often be various reasons for not paying bills. An individual approach is therefore required in resolving issues.

Accumulation of debt may be due, for example, to temporary payment difficulties, an illness or accident, or the problems of a company or its partners. For this reason, debt collection should be more humane than is currently the case. We may not be able to solve all the problems of those who receive collection invoices, but we want to be part of the solution and look ahead.

The role of collection in society

The payment morality of Finns is among the world’s best – in Finland, debts are often paid. Payment of debts builds trust in society, thereby creating conditions favourable for economic activity. This, in turn, contributes indirectly to the creation of jobs.

Collection offices maintain payment morality. We accelerate cash flow and release companies’ resources for their core activities. We negotiate payment solutions so that everyone manages their payments and small companies, too, receive what they are owed. Collection has an important social role.

No one benefits from payment default entries

The fewer payment default entries there are, the more we feel we have succeeded in our work. It is often forgotten that, in reality, most people will overcome their debts. In the current year, OK Perintä customers alone have completely paid off more than 237,000 debts. This is an excellent figure.

Collection offices can, at best, reduce human suffering by helping the indebted move forward, and can, at worst, push them deeper into into the morass. We are on the people’s side.

Jennie Ollila, OK Perintä